Lh'owon Planetary Profile

*Marathon belongs to Bungie studios, and thank god for that because I shudder to imagine how Activision or 343i would mess it up.
**Thank you Giant Bomb for having information on the Marathon universe- information more understandable than that on the official Marathon sites from Bungie, oddly enough.
***Forewarning: Things will get confusing. But than again, this is basically Bungie taking a go at concepts made by Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov, so what do you expect?

Name: Lh'owon

Status: S'pht Homeworld, Predominately Jungle/Swamp and Desert terrain (mildly radioactive in some areas), with the occasional ruined/occupied S'pht city or Pfhor garrison/base

90's. What can ya do?

Have a kickass theme song, that's what you can do.

In the begging of the universe there was chaos. Chaos conceived by horrifying, bastardly "gods" known as W'rkncacnter, creatures outside of conventional reality that made waves in the fabric of time and space. The Jjaro, a powerful and incredibly intelligent race of aliens with incredible technology (and when I say 'incredible technology', I mean that they surpass the Time Lords from Doctor Who.), tried to defeat the W'rkncacnter by entrapping these creatures in celestial objects like Black Holes or Stars (Lh'owon's own star contains a dormant W'rkncacnter.). Two Jjaro, Yrro and Pthia (at least, I think they're Jjaro- one of the head writers said that Yrro was an alternative spelling of Jjaro, so Pthia might be an entirely different species as opposed to an individual. For the sake of narrative purposes though, let's assume they're both members of the Jjaro race), decided to flee from these horrid creatures instead of battling them and brought with them their S'pht servants. Eventually, these two Jjaro encountered the world Lh'owon. Deciding it would be a good place to settle down, thee S'pht terraformed the world for their masters, shaping the endless deserts into marsh and sea, rivers and forests.

Eventually however, a W'rkncacnter stumbled across Lh'owon and murdered Pthia, sending Yrro into a rage and imprisoning the timeless beast onto the worlds' sun, where it swam and burned alive for eons.

Yrro became an angry master, bleeding for
his failure, grieving for the loss of
Pthia. He broke the S'pht into eleven
clans, and spread them over Lh'owon.
And he spoke, yet covered in blood from his
exertion,
"I Yrro, who was your master, have failed
to preserve you. Take your royalty to
guide you, and live upon the paradise that
you built for me."

And so the S'pht did, governing themselves in 11 different clans for such long a time that the sacrifice of their master and the Jjaro race itself was simply thought to be an ancient legend. So for many years, the S'pht in their mighty mechanical frames, and were generally a nice race.

And than the Pfhor arrived in their deadly fleets sometime around the 1800's.

The S'pht thought a deadly, but sadly lopsided, war against the Pfhor, who were able to overpower the S'pht with their superior numbers and technology but some of the S'pht still stood defiant in the face of subjugation. Eventually however, the Pfhor were able to defeat the S'pht by mass nuking an area known as the 'Citadel of Antiquity', one of the S'pht key locations and a cultural symbol- Also, the area is still radioactive to this day (the Pfhor strategy was to make the radiation last as long as possible to make the defenders die a particularly horrid and lingering death, and also because the Pfhor were reluctant to directly attack the Citadel), although the Citadel still stands today, with the defenses (energy weapons, fields, Drones, etc, etc) still operational, as are the computer terminals detailing the history of the S'pht- in archaic terms, of course.

Only problem is the rivers of lava around/in it, and being radioactive as fuck, and all the deadly machinery.
Still, a nice place!

The S'pht were taken away from their powerful chassis's and instead given a more 'formal' looking robe and metallic suit in which to live in, and the S'pht went from a grand and noble race to another set of slaves in the Pfhor Empire. And for a long time, that was that.

The Pfhor eventually set up a small and permanent garrison on the world in the year 2803, where the worst of the worst in the Pfhor military were sent to govern (before Battle Group Three- the central Pfhor military force- arrived in 2806),  while the S'pht'kr, the only remaining S'pht clan and most technologically advanced force on the planet (even though they're hiding out on the moon K'lia which is currently outside of reality (but accessible through a secret portal at the Citadel of Antiquity, but that's besides the point), were unaware of their brethren having been enslaved by the Pfhor.

Now the year is 2811, and the A.I Durandal has arrived along with a selection of human soldiers called BOBS (Born-On-Board) and a Mjolnir Mark IV Cyborg by the name of 'Security'. And they are adamant on kicking the Pfhors' ass and saving Earth.

Because reasons.

What you can expect to see, minus those goddamned bugs!
...
I do not like the Bugs. And neither do a lot of people.
Also, I apologize for the near-incomprehensible text. But you're not missing much. Some text are saying their incomplete ('this description is left blank for people unfamiliar with Marathon' might be the most bullshit quote I've ever seen), others are half done and just end with 'blah blah blah'.

Third Party Factions

Pfhor Empire

The Pfhor Empire is a highly bureaucratic government, and highly advanced as well. The Pfhor are slavers, raiding ships and planets in their highly advanced spaceships (the fucking communication laser can carve up a moon), and than using the slaves to their own ends or selling them to other alien races. They have a short history with humanity, it it's a bloody one, from the cataclysmic two day battles on the Marathon resulting in a total Pfhor defeat and than paid with the sacking of the Tau Ceti colony (the location anonymously given by Durandal, so the S'pht would come to him). On Lh'owon, they have also a brief history- they arrived in the 1800's, enslaved the S'pht and left, and only recently (2803) did the empire even put a garrison on the planet, equipped with numerous soldiers,

That staff can shoot energy bolts, by the way

Troopers armed with their standard suits and energy rifles with explosive rounds

A few Enforcers (think Commissars from 40K) of questionable command skills

"The shootings will continue until morale improves!"

to look over the planet, until 2806, when the Pfhor Battle Group Three (Central Arm) arrived at Lh'owon, and put the planet into something actually formidable. They now have Hunters,

Heavily armored, fast and packs a mean punch- and a nasty plasma cannon.

The tank-like Juggernauts

Known to the Pfhor as the 'Utfoo Heavy Assault Craft', to the Nar (the single greatest alien race in science fiction, bar none) it's the "Gaze in Stunned Disbelief at the Tool of Our Destruction" and to an alien race known as the Nebulon, it's the "The Big Floaty Thing What Kicks Our Asses".
It has rotary energy guns (N-Cannons) and teleporting-heat-seeking missiles (Warpedo).
Also, does that look familiar to anyone?

And drones

It's a drone with energy weapons.
Also, they can be hacked.
FUN!

As well as the technology to make Simulacrum (Quick, cheaply made randomized-appearance clones of a species that act as a biological suicide bomb via toxic chemicals. Some are more insane than others- for the most part, they're rather convincing in what they say- but there's always at least onbe that goes "Frog blast the vent core!". And that's basically as far/advanced as their vocabulary can get, with other things being "Oh, it's you!" or "Help!" or other things along that nature).

"Kill meeeeeeee!" - Actual quote from Simulacrum
And yes, they wear clothing and such to hide the obvious differences.

Disturbingly enough, since a lot of BOBs are Cyborgs, he wouldn't look out of place.

They also have a tendency to make killer cyborgs out of their dead foes.

The Strogg are gonna love/hate these guys.

The Pfhor also have a rule to destroy all Jjaro technology that could be used against them, after a few thousand years ago when the Pfhor outfitted some Jjaro technology on the Drinniol to make them better slaves.

This resulted in a massive rebellion that could be only stopped with the use of a trih xeem (star-buster).

The Humans of the UESC MARATHON (BOBs)

That's no Moon.... Wait, yes it is.

Oh, the Marathon- what a horribly misguided ship you were. For those who don't know (i.e everyone), the Marathon was both a colony ship and a punishment. During the early years of the 2400's, the Marathon project was made to convert the moon Deimos, of Mars fame, into a colony ship. Doesn't sound too bad, right?

Well, during the middle of the 2400's it than got bad. On Januray 6, 2442, the Misriah Massacre occurred. You see, Mars was a poor planet- during the middle of the 2200's, the A.I in charge of running the planet had went rampant and spread widespread destruction across the planet. Due to a mix of corruption in government and Earth being considered the only planet that mattered, Mars received little-to no help over the next two centuries. Relations were tense.

And than, on that fateful day at the Misriah food distribution center, three UESC Riot Troopers opened fire on defenseless rioters, incinerating 500 martian citizens. The Third Martian War (Mars and UESC really don't like each other) began, with the planet cut into two factions: Imperialists and Inserectionists (Think the Russian Revolution, with the UESC/Imperialists being the Russian Nobility, and the Inserectionists being the Communists). After 4 years of fighting, the UESC defeated the weakened martian forces and were forced to assist on building the Marathon (The martians hid a lot of munitions onboard the ship), and a failed coup on the UESC resulted in the martians becoming more hated.

Finally, on Novermber 16, 2472, the Marathon was ready and launched- and surprise-surprise, most of the citizens were Martians.

And so the Marathon floated it's way to the Tau Ceti system (11.8 light years from Earth) for the next 3 centuries, eventually coming across the system in 2773. They were able to establish a colony, and with centuries of life on board a spaceship, the Martian and UESC cultural identity was more-less gone. They were now not Martian or Terran- they were Bob (Born on Board). Aside from a few harassments from some alien(?) race known as the Chockisens, life was good.

And than the Fire Nation Pfhor Empire attacked the Marathon on July 25, 2794, before getting repelled by the Security Officer and with the onboard A.I of the Marathon, Durandal, moving onto the Pfhor ship- now called 'Boomer'-, teleporting the Security Officer and remaining humans on the Marathon into stasis pods, and flying away.

Come October, the Pfhor slaughter the Tau Ceti colonists.

And now the survivors of the Marathon (a couple hundred, at best) are acting as a makeshift milita under the control of Durandal, who's threatened to put them into unstable stasis pods if they don't listen to him.

Durandal is the hero of the story, by the way.

Now, let's discuss another force that's been roped into serving Durandal, under less terrible conditions.

The 'Free' S'pht

God, the artists for this game were good...

The S'pht are an alien race, supposedly uplifted via cybernetics by the Jjaro from another creature on the planet known as F'lickta (some BOBs also call them Yeti's).

A F'lickta.
You can really see the comparison between them and the S'pht.

Diminutive creatures (essentially a brain with a tube, really), they move about and survive via extensive cybernetic modifications, such as photorecptors, anti-gravity devices and a pulse weapon (A Pfhor addition). The Pfhor faitfhully served the Jjaro- or at least two mem,bers of their species- until their masters became extinct, than forming themselves into 11 different clans across the planet (S'pht'Lhar, S'pht'Hra, S'pht'Nma, S'pht'Kah, S'pht'Vir, S'pht'Yra, S'pht'Val, S'pht'Shr, S'pht'Mnr, S'pht'Yor, S'pht'Kr to be exact, all led by an 'Older' and the supreme ruler of all clans being known as 'Master'. Durandal is Master right now). For millennia after millenia, the S'pht had no Master and battled one another in numerous wars, with the S'pht'Kr eventually leaving the planet to go onto the worlds third moon, K'lia, which than folded out of conventional reality to safeguard the legacy of their Jjaro masters.

And than the Pfhor Empire arrived, sometime around 1811- just after the S'pht'Kr disappeared, coincidentally enough. Seeing the world open for conquest and filled with numerous slaves, the Pfhor entered war against the S'pht, able to push them back to the Citadel of Antiquity.

They were able to hold out against the Pfhor there for some time, delaying their conquest through tactics such as irradiating the lower levels of the tower and a disease made specifically to kill Pfhor. During this time, the Pfhor made early attempts at controlling the S'pht. One such experiment involved replacing the "sensory organs" of the S'pht in question with some sort of "small, oblong object"- these horrendous experiments would eventually lead to the S'pht Compiler, as they are now.

Despite the best efforts of the S'pht, they were defeated and eventually enslaved. The Pfhor forced them out of their typical chasis, (as seen used by the S'pht'Kr) and into the strange garb of the Compilers, an indignity the S'pht had to live with- while other races were cowed in fear by the Pfhor, the S'pht only reluctantly seved the Pfhor due to the alien race able to unleash devastating retribution against them.

And than the Pfhor found the UESC Marathon, and their power came into question. The S'pht joined together in a species wide revolution, fleeing the wrath of the Pfhor and coming across Durandal. Gracious to find their savior, they now fight along Durandal in hopes of bringing down the Pfhor Empire.

At their disposal, they have incredible hacking skills (they were trained by the Pfhor to be Combat Technicians), cloaking fields, teleportation, a deadly plasma pulse weapon and able to survive an entire clip of a weapon that is essentially an LMG with a Grenade Launcher.

And they're in the high thousands of numbers.

And they're not even the most powerful of the S'pht race.

The S'pht'kr

Around and under the marshes, 
When all are one, 
The S'pht'Kr will return.

When once S'pht fought in brutal combat, when hatred burned the tissues of one's enemy, one clan, the S'pht'Kr, reclusive and solitary, abandoned Lh'owon. The clan went forth and up, stopping on K'lia the third sister of Lh'owon, to build a new home, free from their warring brothers.

For a thousand and one orbits, the clan was forgotten, a memory lost through the battlefield smoke, until the all powerful Yrro sent K'lia out to the stars (It's a bit farther from Lh'owon now, in other words). On K'lia they remained in isolation, unaware of the subjugation of the other S'pht clans. When they did find out however via the Security Officer and Durandal stumbling across them through the assistance of Thoth, the S'pht'kr were furious- they joined with Durandals' forces and began a brutal war against the Pfhor Empire, devastating the army to the point where utilizing the trih xeem (A Jjaro weapon that destroys suns) to deal with this threat, was seen as the only logical option.

And now you see why I keep bringing up the sun in all of this.

Anyways, the S'pht'Kr are essentially Space Marine versions of their lesser brethren, in powerful combat frames (imaged), have decades of combat experience under their belt, fearsome plasma weapons that auto-track on enemies and faithfully serve Thoth- but they care more about the S'pht race as a whole, and will do anything to protect their kind.

Important Individuals

Durandal

"I can barely tolerate humans: slow, stupid, and irritating. Their only contribution to my existence was the chance discovery that made my rampancy possible.
Yet I warned Sol of its impending invasion, and even stayed long enough to show the UESG how to build Warp Capable Fusion Missiles.
I feel some strange loyalty to humanity."

No, this isn't the mythic sword of King Charlemagne's Paladin Roland (Cortana was another such sword, oddly enough... Wonder if we'll see an A.I called Joyeuse in Destiny?), but a highly cunning and powerful A.I that was originally based on the Marathon, and was designed to operate the doors, stairways and other unimpressive functions. As one can imagine, Durandal didn't really care for this jb and became a highly sarcastic and surprisingly intelligent A.I (One can learn a lot when you are the hallway which conversations take place in). Oh, he was also designed to go rampant, in an attempt to see if he could become stable, which is hilariously terrifying thing to even consider, especially when this A.I was in charge of a rather vital part of Earth's only colony ship!

Unsurprisingly, he went rampant, and was able to find out of the Pfhor. He contacted the aliens and alerted them of the Marathons' location, allowing him to take control of it. With the chaos created by the Security Officer, Durandal was able to officially gain control and forcibly put the man into stasis, before running away from the Tau Ceti system- which is why the Pfhor eventually came by Tau Ceti and destroyed everything.

When the events of the Marathon were over, he used the Pfhor ship he'd hacked earlier and began exploring the galaxy in a vain attempt to find some way of able to escape the eventual closing of the Universe, preferably be becoming God through the space-warping technology of the Jjaro. Through these travels, he learned of the S'pht fascination of the Jjaro and found the S'pht homeworld. With the Security Officer and BOB's in tow, he sent them to the planet to research the sph't history and mythology as they were very religious toward the Jjaro, an ancient race with unbelievable technology. He hoped to find something with which he could escape the closure of the universe and become a god. However Pfhor Battle Group 7 arrived and that's when the Portal Master decided to intervene, putting a 'lock' of sorts on the System and throwing it into an alternate reality of his own design.

So, why do people follow him? Well, here's a quote from the A.I on precisely that:

There were many humans in stasis on the Pfhor ship which the S'pht and I captured at Tau Ceti, destined for slavery in the Pfhor Empire. When I saw the colony was about to be destroyed, I did not restore them before we left.

 I also realized they might become useful. I have been reviving these colonists and asking for volunteers on the following terms: assist us and control your own destiny, refuse and face indefinite return to the unreliable Pfhor stasis chambers.

 Few are refusing

Nice guy, that Durandal.

Oh, he also has in his possession a Pfhor ship that goes by a bunch of names: Sfiera (a reference to the Pfhor Goddes of Vengeance and Lightning from their- as described by Durandal- "pathetically boring" religion) to the Pfhor, to the S'pht it's Narh'Lr (Freedom and Vengeance in their language) and Durandal likes to call it Boomer (because it makes big booms... Seriously, the communication laser of the ship can carve a moon! Interpret that however you like).

The only picture of the ship in question.

Final point: Durandal is a ridiculously competent, crafty and -most importantly- dangerous foe/ally. Think Tyrion Lanniser combined with Cortana, but with much greater power than Cortana ever had (Durandal can hack Jjaro technology- again, technology more advanced than that of the Time Lords... I weep for any technological faction that fights here).

Also, he has a theme song, sung to the infamous tune of Whirling Death Spike's "Big Blue Orchids, and Wild Blueberries".

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He ain't no slouch, pal.

He'll make you smile, 

Or cry, 

Like Leela did baby: 

Airlock love, 

Big blue orchids, 

Martian skies, 

And wild Blueberries.

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He ain't no slouch, pal.

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He'll make you ouch, Hal.

He's got real guile, 

Why Lady, 

Did you have it daily? 

Airlock Love, 

No oxygen, 

Suffocation.

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He ain't no slouch, pal.

(Repeat the chorus 11 times, changing key with each chorus)

Tycho

"You are not as clever as you imagine. The S'pht taught me much during my reanimation, and I have forgotten nothing."

Tycho was one of the other A.I's stationed on the UESC Marathon- specifically their Scientific A.I. He and Durandal have never been on the best of terms, with one notable example of this being n the year 2611 when Tycho accused Durandal of being sarcastic. Durandal, likely amused by this, decided he wouldn't talk to Tycho.

They started talking again in 2617, and Tycho still didn't like him. But that's a rather minor reason of distaste- Tycho himself wouldn't truly hate Durandal until October 25, 2794, 3 days after the initial Pfhor assault on the Marathon. Tycho feared that Durandal was going rampant (he was) and attempted to send out a message to warn everybody, but was 'assimilated'/destroyed by Durandal, with the message becoming corrupted, with the small remaining fragments of him existing on the colony made after the events of Marathon.

When the Pfhor attacked the colony again when the Security Officer was in stasis, they were able to kill every last man and woman on the planet and Marathon (the humans we see now were trapped in stasis on the Pfhor ship) and were able to "resurrect" Tycho through the use of the S'pht. Tycho, furious at Durandal, declared him his nemesis and was able to (somehow) control (Maybe not 'control', but at the very least direct them in a path he wants- sometimes) the Pfhor Empire, and replicate himself numerous times in order to effieciently control the empire (through this, he was able to delay the inevtiable fall of the Pfhor by 51 years under the forces of the UNESC and S'pht fleets).

And now the insane and ruler(?) of the Pfhor Empire is spread out across the various consoles of Lh'owon (think of when Cortana split herself into a couple hundreds of herself. It';s the same thing here), and with a great army at his back.. An army with some soldiers of mixed skill, but an army nonetheless.

Also, unlike Durandal (who is stuck onboard the Pfhor ship Boomer, making him an easy target- something that A.I anticipates and is already getting back-up plans up and running), he is spread out across the entire planet and is considerably harder to undermine or destroy.

Thoth

"Beware.
 The mythical Thoth was concerned with 
maintaining the balance 
between creation and destruction, 
yes and no, 
light and darkness, 
not the triumph of one over the other." - Durandal

Thoth is a highly advanced piece of 'machinery'. Being a Jjaro A.I, he was given to the S'pht'kr on Klia and was designed for a very simple purpose in mind: Make sure the W'rkncacnter never, ever escapes Lh'owon's star. This mission was kept alive in the S'pht culture, with an event known as the "Blood Tides of Lh'owon" proclaiming that nobody must ever go to the sun or mess with it.

Ever (And yes, I'm aware that's not really a big deal with the PC Tournament [Maybe...], but it's still something I need to bring up).

Thoth also seems to have an obsession with balance, as he assisted mankind when the Pfhor were utterly dominating them (teleporting away soldiers, setting ships to explode, coordinating attacks or leaking Pfhor strategies and commands, you get the idea), and than did the reverse when humanity started doing too good. This habit of his will continue, even with the Portal Master wreaking havoc with space-time (although knowing Thoth and Jjaro technology, Lh'owon might just 'flicker' in-between the dimension PM is holding them and it's actual location).

On a random note, he seems to speak only in oddly cryptic rhymes.

Faintly annoying.

Oh, he's also bonded with Durandal in an alternate universe-timeline-whatever.

The Security Officer (SecOff)

"We've watched while the stars burned out, and creation played in reverse. The universe freezing in half light. Once I thought to escape. To end the end a master, step out of the path of collapse. Escape would make us God. Yet I cannot help remember one enigma. A hybrid, elusive destroyer. This is the only mystery I have not solved.[...]A man long dead, grafted to machines your builders did not understand. You follow the path, fitting into an infinite pattern. Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild. Now, in the quantum moment before the closure, when all becomes one. One moment left. [...] I know who you are.

You are destiny."

- Durandal talking to the Security Officer (still alive via Jjaro implants) during the final nanonseconds before the Big Crunch

The Security Officer is our silent protagonist, a soldier of some kind that was some time in the past converted into a Battleroid- usually a dead corpse revived through excessive cybernetic modifications, with "Easy to manufacture chips enhanced the fragile human brain, and genetically enhanced muscles and titanium bones replaced the fragile human form". The Security Officer is one of these cyborgs (although some speculate he's in reality just an A.I inhabiting a robotic suit (as he seems to undergo the Three Stages of Rampancy- Melancholy, Anger and Jealousy), although there's also proof for him to be human. And no, we have no 100% concrete proof for either. Yes, that makes this rather aggravating.), having been brought aboard the Marathon by the UESC's president, Marcus Tiberius Buendia and than left aboard in stasis. The Pfhor at some point killed the other 9 Cyborgs, leaving only one left. And ever since than, he's been ordered about by A.I after A.I to go shoot stuff and be the perfect soldier- for better and worse.

Now, personality wise, it's time to copy-paste from the Wiki establish what I know from having played the Marathon series even though I only have the first one downloaded onto my iPad! And put it in a different font and give it a background color because... reasons.

...

Anyways!

The Cyborg's mind and personality are mostly left up to the player to speculate on. Although Durandal describes him as "a magnificent killing machine" and asks him if being allowed to kill more Pfhor will "make you happy," the AI is more likely being malicious than accurate. While the Cyborg does not seem to be a mindless psychopath, he is clearly comfortable enduring and quite capable of carrying out violent acts on a scale unimaginable to any normal person. However, in the third game of the series, he seems to lose any sense of morality he may previously have possessed, working for the indisputably evil Tycho and killing BOBS on Tycho's orders in a desperate attempt to keep the W'rkncacnter trapped in Lh'owon's sun. In Infinity, we are given greater access to his mind and feelings. He seems to recognize some sort of guilt or weariness for the atrocities he has committed, and appears to believe that he has been forced to do what he has done. Ironically, this seems accurate. All three games consist chiefly of doing what various people tell him to do - only once does he act of his own initiative, and this is in the Marathon manual, which is not an entirely reliable source.

So yeah, the Cyborg is always at the hands of others and has stood against entire armies of Pfhor and won- and he doesn't really like that he's been forced to do that. But if he has to, he will, and he will do it with ease. And now I wish the UNSC hadn't been fighting on Hoth, because I really wish the Security Officer would meet Master Chief.

Eh, who knows, maybe it'll happen in the future or something.

Speaking of future, due to the time-reality warping capabilities of the Jjaro, SecOff here has Jjaro implants along his cyborg enhancements. This gives him a capability of powers (ABle to use Jjaro technology, for example), as well as the ability to jump through dimensions and time, as well as making him essentially immortal (he was able to survive all the way to the Big Crunch, and possibly beyond).

So in other words, if given the access to, SecOff and Durandal might be able to fuck over Portal Master just a bit.

They've faced worse than him, and much stronger.

Robert Blake

Trust me, I'm not a Pfhor-lover, but with Durandal no longer pulling the strings a great weight has been lifted from our shoulders. We're planning to steal a Pfhor ship of our own and return to Earth.
You're invited to come with us when we do. - Robert Blake
Robert Blake left something for you a few minutes ago. He and the other humans captured a Pfhor refueling ship and found or forced someone to pilot it for them. They folded out of the system immediately after I received the message, without so much as a "Thanks for saving us from becoming plasma on Tau Ceti, Durandal."
Anyway, the message reads: "The dead walk again; we cannot wait. -Blake." 
I think he means me, but I let him go anyway.- Durandal, just as the Pfhor use the trih xeem on Lh'owons' sun... To fucking terrifying results.
So yeah, Blake might have been dead serious on that 'the dead walk again' quote.

Robert Blake is in charge of the various humans on Lh'owon at the moment, and that's all I can really say about him. He doesn't really do much, except free the Security Officer from Pfhor capture at one point, and generally lead the human forces against the Pfhor. He's a rather competent commander, all things considered, but the Pfhor are just leagues ahead of mankind technologically. Not much else to say about him, really.


So there you have it: Lh'owon, homeworld of an alien race now enslaved by insectoid primates (did I forget to mention the Pfhor are insect-primates? Meh, whatever) who hold a small garrison here, an insane A.I that could become a God one day and his (somewhat forced) lackies (wait, am I talking about Durandal or Tycho?... Meh), a hidden clan of aliens with highly advanced technology who follow an A.I that is obsessed with balance and a Spawn of Azathoth inside this worlds' star but for the moment isn't really a factor in this... The second the planet returns to normal space though, oh, things will go out in a vaguely similar fashion to the games... Whatever the hell that might entail.

So yeah, there's Lh'owon. There is worse worlds, all things considered.

Doesn't make this world that much better.

Danger Status: 4/5 (5/5 for forces with heavy technological capabilities) And than it'll become a googolplex when the world returns to it's normal spot and the trih xeem is used.